Burgy,
Much later it occurred to me that, in my response to you, I had
overlooked another theory about the deity, a version of neo-Platonic
emanationism. The "true" or "ultimate" deity produced a lesser deity
which is the god of this world or a member of a series leading to him or
it. The imperfection of the final being in the series explains why the
world is not as perfect as Griffin would make it were he in charge. ;-)
Dave